Thank you for this great inexpensive DIY kit. I can't find any other discussion here. I can't believe I'm the first one. Am I overlooking something?

I'd like to see an on-going thread of pictures of everybody's completed kits in different boxes. I'm sure they will be very creative in different sized chassis, different woods, some chromed, some painted, transformers displayed, covered, connector placement, tube display, etc. Maybe you could have a prize for amp of the week.

In the meantime, you mentioned to buy a Hammond chassis. Can you recommend a part number, also dimension size to look for that will hold your kit?

Will you offer additional instructions for modifying the parts on the board to fit a box -- volume control, connectors, etc.

Thank you for this great inexpensive DIY kit. I can't find any other discussion here. I can't believe I'm the first one. Am I overlooking something?

I'd like to see an on-going thread of pictures of everybody's completed kits in different boxes. I'm sure they will be very creative in different sized chassis, different woods, some chromed, some painted, transformers displayed, covered, connector placement, tube display, etc. Maybe you could have a prize for amp of the week.

In the meantime, you mentioned to buy a Hammond chassis. Can you recommend a part number, also dimension size to look for that will hold your kit?

Will you offer additional instructions for modifying the parts on the board to fit a box -- volume control, connectors, etc.

Larry,

As of date of this post - the product is not yet linked on the website, so no one knows about it yet. It will go on the site next week, and then expect a month or two to go by before people start posting results.

As for the chassis, the board is 6" x 6" so any chassis large enough to accommodate the board internally as well as the transformers on top will work. The board used in the sample pictures was 8 x 16 inches. Smallest chassis you could use for this project is a 8 x 10 x 2.

Putting your SE84 on glass is a superb idea! And thanks for keeping the kit affordable. IMO, you will sell a bunch of these kits.

Anyway, I have a new case on the shelf that is 16"W X 12"D X 6"H. I'm thinking of enclosing the entire amp for the safety of my grandkids. I could see one of them trying to touch a hot tube.... Ouch! Is a 6" enclosure height tall enough to get everything inside? Also, do you see any problem with running flying leads for the speakers and rca jacks to the rear panel of the above mentioned enclosure?

Steve,For SE84DIY you recommend 6BQ5 or EL84. For these outputs you use 150 Ohm cathode resistor. For SE84C you recommend SV83 or 6P15P. For these outputs you use 100 Ohm cathode resistor.On SE84DIY if I use SV83 I have to replace cathode resistor to 100 Ohm? SE84DIY has silicon rectifier and plate voltage is a little higher. I tried to email Steve but looks it is not possible. Maybe this way I have an answer...Ilie

The difference in cathode resistors between the two amplifiers is to compensate for the difference in B+ voltage between them. You can run either EL84 or SV83 without re-biasing in both amps.

Did anyone build this amp?http://www.decware.com/newsite/SE84CDIY.htmHow does it sound? Can I connect it to any kind of speakers up to 500W or are there limitations? How is it compared to a normal amplifier for a 1000 Dollar price? Can it provide these strong and low bases as a normal amp can?

Azul - this is a 2 watt per channel single-ended triode amplifier, with the advantages and limitations that are inherent in this type of amp. To understand these google SE84C and read the comments and reviews.

I await delivery of the kit - but am well aware of what I have purchased, and how it is likely to compare with my current Charlize tripath amp, and large 20wpc Class B valve amp.

Azul, the short answer is YES it can provide those highs and lows. . . . but careful matching of components, especially speakers, is required to get all that you can from the two watts.

As Alan has mentioned, there are a lot of documents online to read about this basic amp configuration that will give you an idea of what it would sound like when optimized with the right equiptment, and what that equiptment is.

oh and in my solitary reflections I came across another idea that I would like to roast over the fire of your seasoned experience: is the heater circuit on the pcb a compromise compared to a twisted wire based one? Since I have a hum problem on my zen kit and I tried everything else, do you think I could float pins 4 and 5 on all tubes, thus bypassing the printed circuit and reconnect the green wires from the power transformer to the heater circuit with twisted copper wire and run it nicely above everything else? Would that reduce the hum? Am I out of my mind?I need help. ;-I

I disconnected the supply to the heaters momentarily, while the amp was in flight and I noticed no reduction in hum whatsoever. Can I assume that the heaters are not the cause of the hum?The hum appears around 15 seconds after powerup and dies as soon as the power is down.Thank youotherwise the sound is fantastic